Question: OE Tires Life for a Grand Sport

[LT4CE]

I'm looking at a 2013 Grand Sport with just under 17K miles on it. The dealer put new tires on it, so I'm wondering if they're trying to cover something that the tire wear would have shown?

For how many miles should the OE tires last on a Grand Sport? I heard something about the GS not being too easy on tires, so maybe I'm overly paranoid?

Thanks ahead of time for any advice.

 

[BigJimZ16]

I'm looking at a 2013 Grand Sport with just under 17K miles on it. The dealer put new tires on it, so I'm wondering if they're trying to cover something that the tire wear would have shown?

For how many miles should the OE tires last on a Grand Sport? I heard something about the GS not being too easy on tires, so maybe I'm overly paranoid?

Thanks ahead of time for any advice.

With the aggressive factory alignment, I only got 12K out of the fronts on my '10 GS! NO track days!! I changed over to Michelin Pilot Super Sports with a less aggressive alignment ( 0 camber) and am now getting reasonable tire wear!.

Bottom line, the Good Years are junk and the GS has a VERY aggressive alignment!!

 

[Tuna]

If the GS came with GY tires and the original tires lasted 15K miles, they did good. GY SuperCar tires suck for wear. The Michelin tires last a lot longer and have similar traction. So, changing out the tires at 17K isn't hard to believe.

I had GY SuperCar tires on my CTS V1 and they lasted 12K and 13K each set.

My '13 427 Vert has the Michelin PS2s and I'm about ready to replace them with 26K miles. As stated, the GY tires on the GS or any Vette for that matter do not last worth a crap. The Michelin tires are much better for wear and performance IMHO.

 

[LT4CE]

Thanks for the replies, this is all good info! I guess I was more paranoid than necessary.

The bad news though, is the dealer put Goodyear Eagle F1's on it. Maybe I can get the dealer to swap them for some Michelin tires.

If not, maybe I'll wait them out a bit, and see how long it sits on their lot. I might gain some leverage that way. It's a little pricey, so I'd like to knock that down a bit, too. I guess with that attitude, I don't love this GS, but only like it. It's a beautiful Vette; Cyber Gray Metallic, 3LT, manual, Dual Mode Performance Exhaust... almost the way I'd order it, if I were to get a C6.

 

[Midnight 99]

If the price is right, buy the car. You should get around 15,000 miles from the GY's. My 13 GS has 15,000 miles on it and I still have sufficient tread for another 2,000 miles. Many owners replace the GY's earlier because they tend to be noisy. I have already purchased the replacement Bridgestone's and they are at my tire guy's place in his store room waiting for me.

 

[BigJimZ16]

One huge negative for me with the GoodYears was the wet hi-way traction. My GS hydroplaned horribly at 34mph on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. A combination of the negative camber angle and garbage tires. ad

 

[Itshakes]

Good year tires

There was 8400 miles on our 2013 Grand Sport 60th anniversary Coupe and I had to replace the rear tires (wonder why the fronts were at 7/32ns and the rear at 3/32nds?) Put on 2 Bridgestone RE050A Run flats. A night and Day difference--smooth, quiet, no noise. When the fronts wear out, I'll replace them with Bridgestones also. Couldn't get Michelins quickly, didn't want any more Goodyears. Ordered the Bridgestone's on a Tuesday night, delivered the next morning!!! Less than 24 hours and they were ordered and installed!! Very Pleased with the Bridgestone tires. Not so happy with the price--$971!!!

 

[Midnight 99]

I had the GY's on my 13 GS Convertible replaced last week with Bridgestone Potenza RFT's. $1,736.00 mounted, balanced and sales tax. The difference in the ride and noise is like night and day.

 

[catbert]

I've had several C6s, including Zs and GSs, and 12K miles is about as much as you can generally expect on the OEMs. The GSs and Zs are worse than the base models. The combination of Bridgestone replacements and a camber adjustment made a huge difference - 18K to 22K miles. As a bonus, the Bridgestones are actually safe when it rains.

 

[Tuna]

I've had several C6s, including Zs and GSs, and 12K miles is about as much as you can generally expect on the OEMs. The GSs and Zs are worse than the base models. The combination of Bridgestone replacements and a camber adjustment made a huge difference - 18K to 22K miles. As a bonus, the Bridgestones are actually safe when it rains.

My 427 Vert came with the Michelin PS2s - same as used on the ZR1 - 25,000 miles now and about to be replaced. Okay in the rain.
Looks like I'll be replacing them with Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires as the PS2 in ZR1/427Vert sizes are being phased out.

My V Wagon came with PS2 tires - 22K on the OEM set. Mounted PSS tires and still putting on the miles at 35K.

My original CTS V1 came with GY SuperCar tires - first experience with them. Stuck to the road really well when dry and warm. Okay in the rain.
Wore out fast - 12K on OEM set, 13K on second set. Mounted GY F1 D3 tires and put 25K plus on them. Great dry and wet traction. Too bad the D3 is so hard to get.
Best GY tire I ever had on a car.

My guess is that the GY SuperCars tire on the Vette would have similar characteristics as demonstrated on my V1.

The next time my V Wagon needs tires, I'll probably mount the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3 (all season) tire as the V is my daily driver.
Even if Michelin makes an A/S3 in the 427 Verts sizes, I'll probably stick with the summer performance tire as the Vette doesn't see a lot of wet weather driving and the PS2 does okay on wet roads anyway.

 

[LT4CE]

2013 GS Still Available

I sort of cooled on this Vette, not so much because of the Vette itself (I still think it looks pretty dayum good) but because the dealer said they couldn't put the original rims back on it. He said their tire shop couldn't handle it. It's a Chevy dealer, so I found that response odd. But maybe not... I haven't dealt with a Chevy dealer in quite some time (mostly because I don't like dealerships!)

Anyway, it's still available and they've incrementally dropped the price by $1K over the past few weeks, leaving the ask at $47,900. My budget is around $50K, but if you knew my wife, you'd know the less I pay, the happier she'll be.

By local KBB values, the dealer is pretty much in line with their asking price, but I wanted to know what you guys thought about the car and the price.

Here are the links:

2013 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport 60th Anniversary 3LT!!!!!!!

2013 Chevrolet Corvette for sale in Hollister - 1G1YS2DWXD5109087 - Greenwood Chevrolet Buick GMC

Kelley Blue Book

As before, all comments are welcome, and most definitely appreciated. Thanks!

 

[catbert]

What's their dealer doc fee?

 

[LT4CE]

What's their dealer doc fee?

I hadn't asked about that, and naturally they had not volunteered it. I've got a message in to find out.

We could assume they charge about $350 - $500. I'd say that leaves them plenty of room for profit.

I would also assume they low-balled the person that traded it in. I'd like to work them down towards the $45K range, but I'd probably be willing to pay $47K, assuming it's in as advertised condition.

It's been on their lot for over a month, and they've dropped the price $1k on their own, so I figure they have some room to negotiate.

 

[catbert]

I hadn't asked about that, and naturally they had not volunteered it. I've got a message in to find out.

We could assume they charge about $350 - $500. I'd say that leaves them plenty of room for profit.

I would also assume they low-balled the person that traded it in. I'd like to work them down towards the $45K range, but I'd probably be willing to pay $47K, assuming it's in as advertised condition.

It's been on their lot for over a month, and they've dropped the price $1k on their own, so I figure they have some room to negotiate.

Around here the doc fees can be north of $600.00, led by the Rick Hendricks dealerships (Those million dollar auction wins have to be paid). I was quoted a $750 doc by a dealer a couple weeks ago when shopping for my ATS. The amount is the same, used or new.

 

[LT4CE]

Around here the doc fees can be north of $600.00, led by the Rick Hendricks dealerships (Those million dollar auction wins have to be paid). I was quoted a $750 doc by a dealer a couple weeks ago when shopping for my ATS. The amount is the same, used or new.

I guess until I know, I'll just have to hope they wouldn't try to gouge me that much. Until it gets north of $500, I'd probably feel un-violated. :L

I don't mean to sound petty (as opposed to actually being petty, which I have no problem being) but things like that irritate me to the point where I'd tell them to forget it if I thought they were sticking it to me. ad I never fall in love with anything I'm buying, to the point where I'd let that happen. (hopefully!)

I left a message asking about this right about the time I replied to your post. No phone call, no email, yet.

 

[kpic]

BigJim and Tuna,
Members like you are why I love this site.

 

[Hib Halverson]

It's sad but, Goodyear, which once was a top notch OE ultra performance radial tire brand for Corvettes, has apparently, left both the OE and the replacement market for ultra performance tires. The F1 Supercar EMT, the OE tire on GSes, was a substandard product as far as tread life and noise.

Unfortunately, Goodyear has developed no new ultra-performance products since the late-00s and the last one GY did release was only used on the last of the base Z06es, that is: 2011-2013 without Z07. The GY F1 Supercar G2 EMT was a pretty darn good tire, but was Goodyear's last gasp before it ceded the Corvette OE and replacement tire market to Michelin. Nevertheless, as good as the GY F1 SC G2 was, it still cannot provide outstanding tread life with the Z06's aggressive front suspension alignment specs. In fact, no tire can do that unless the tread compound is rock hard, and...you're not going to see a "rock hard" tread compound on any Corvette tire unless it comes from some cheap-assed tire maker in Asia.

With respect to Grand Sports eating up tires, the problem is that, while the GS package replaced Z51, it also carried over the Z51's aggressive (i.e.: for the track) alignment specs. As suggested elsewhere in this thread, if your GS never sees the track and never gets run hard on the street, you'll benefit by degrading the alignment specs back to the front/rear alignments for the base C6. Yes, you will loose some of the car's cutting-edge handing at the limit, but you will gain tread life. For people who are willing to spend $60,000 on the car but don't want to spend 1500 bucks every 15,000-18,000 for tires and are willing to give up some performance handling, that is definitely the way to go.

Combine the alignment change with a switch to Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires and you'll be a lot happier, but keep in mind the better tread life is going to come mostly from the less-aggressive front suspension alignment and less from the switch from Goodyear to Michelin.

Keep in mind that, if you change your mind and decide to go to a performance driving school or take the car to a track day, you need to reset the front end alignment back to the recommended Grand Sport specifications before you go, otherwise your burn the front tires off the car in a very short time.

 

[MTsVette]

I purchased my 2012 GS with 9998 miles on the clock in Sep '14. The dealer replaced the original tires with another set of OEM GY's. First thing I did was set the alignment at 0 degrees camber (local Chevy dealer). The GY's come with 8/32 thread depth. After approx. 7,200 miles, their at 7/32, not bad. I find the tires somewhat smooth, with a little noise at highway speeds. I've had no issues in wet conditions.

My .02

MT